Davies excited to fight on home soil for the first time as a professional

Pontyberem’s Zack Davies (3-0) is relishing the opportunity to fight on Welsh soil for the first time as a professional.

The lightweight hasn’t fought in his home country since winning the Welsh Elite Championships in March 2014 but he’ll end that absence on 10 October.

Davies, who has won every round of his paid career so far, will tackle Worcester’s wild Michael ‘Mad Man’ Mooney (8-16, 3KO) at the Newport Centre in a six round contest on the undercard of Warrior Promotions’ ‘Enter The Dragon’ show.

He said: “It’s good to fight in Wales again. I’ve been in London twice and Bournemouth, now my fans get a chance to watch me at home. I’ll have a fair few fans there on the night and I can’t wait.

“I think the last time I fought in Wales was the finals [Welsh Elite Championships] in March last year. It’s been a long time.”

The Welshman has wanted a test since his debut but overmatched opponents, which every novice prospect is entitled to learn their trade against, have been easily obliged to concede centre ring and survive until the final bell. However, Mooney’s very unlikely to be as easily discouraged and the Midlander isn’t a stranger to springing an upset from the away corner.

Wary of the challenge, Davies said: “I’ve watched a bit of him. He’s not very good technically but he’s very tough. He’s got a few wins on the road, against prospects who he wasn’t supposed to beat so I expect a challenge.

“He looks very game, like he’ll come to fight me. So, it’ll be different this time. I expected the last guy to come at me because he had a few unlicensed fights and knocked them out but I hit him with a few shots and he went running.

“It’ll be different this time, I’ll hit him and he’ll still be coming at me, wanting to win.”

In preparation for his mini-homecoming, Davies has been sparring with some of Welsh boxing’s best, IBF world featherweight champion Lee Selby and former British super-featherweight champion Gary Buckland.

Reflecting on the experience, Davies said: “I prepare the same for every fight. I work very hard because I’m always ready for the worst. Obviously, you don’t expect to get beat but I always prepare for a tough night, so I don’t lose.

“I’ve been sparring Gary Buckland and Lee Selby regularly. It’s been a good experience for me. Lee especially; like he’s very good, technically excellent, sharp punches and it’s been good to go against that sort of speed.”

With four outings in Davies’ maiden eight months as a professional, the decorated amateur has made a relatively smooth transition to the new code. The 23-year-old, whose gym-mates Enzo Maccarinelli (39-7, 31KO) and Alex Hughes (5-0, 3KO) will fight on the same night, says he’s remaining realistic about his progress.

Davies said: “It’s been as I expected. It’s going to get harder, I know that. My first three fights, I’m not saying they were easy but they were comfortable, it won’t always be like that.

“I rather the training as a professional, it’s harder. Gary [Lockett] and the boys push me hard, I prefer it because you’re preparing for just one fight at a time and you can focus more.

“Hopefully I can get one more [fight] in 2015 after this. I always tell Gary, I’ll fight all the time. After my fight in June, I was meant to fight again straight away in July but I done my hand in. So, I was out of that one but hopefully I can get two more in and finish the year 5-0.”